Lesson 8 Revolutionary Forerunner Sun Yat-sen

Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary activities in his early years

Sun Yat-sen, the great forerunner of the democratic revolution, was named Wen and called Yixian. When he lived in Japan to engage in revolutionary activities, he assumed the name Zhongshan Qiao, and later became known as "Zhongshan". As a boy, Sun loved to listen to the stories of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and praised Hong Xiuquan as "the first hero who fought against the Qing Dynasty" and appointed himself as the second Hung Xiuquan.

In 1894, Sun Yat-sen went north to Tianjin and wrote to Li Hongzhang, proposing a number of reforms such as changing the law and strengthening himself, which were rejected. Disappointed, he began to realize that the only way to save China was to overthrow the autocratic rule of the Qing government. In November of the same year, Sun Yat-sen joined forces with overseas Chinese in Honolulu and founded the Xing Zhong Hui, with the aim of "revitalizing China" and calling for "the expulsion of the Tartars, the restoration of China, and the creation of a united government".

In 1895, Sun returned to Hong Kong and contacted Lu Hao Dong and others to set up the Hong Kong Xing Zhong Hui, and at the same time carried out secret work such as fund-raising, liaison with the party and the army to prepare for an armed uprising in Guangzhou and establish a revolutionary stronghold, but in October, news of the uprising was leaked and Lu Hao Dong and others were arrested and killed.

After the failure of the uprising in Guangzhou, Sun was wanted by the Qing government and deported by the Hong Kong authorities. From then on, he broke his hair and went into exile, studying the social reality in Japan, the United States and Britain, developing revolutionary organizations, and preparing for the continuation of the revolution.

The League and the Three People's Principles

After the signing of the Treaty of Xin Chou, the Qing government was reduced to a tool of imperialist rule in China, and revolutionary sentiment in China was growing. The revolutionary ideas of the bourgeoisie spread rapidly, and there were writings on national democratic revolution such as Zhang Binglin's "Refutation of Kang Youwei's Book on Revolution", Zou Rong's "Revolutionary Army", Chen Tianhua's "Fierce Retreat" and "Alarm Bell", which called on people to rise up to overthrow the Qing government and establish a democratic republican system. Various revolutionary groups were also established, the most influential of which were the Hua Xing Hui and the Guang Fu Hui.

During the long revolutionary struggle, Sun's ideas were gradually shared by other revolutionaries and he became the recognized leader of the revolutionary party.

In order to concentrate the revolutionary forces and establish a unified revolutionary organization, in August 1905, Sun Yat-sen united the members of the Xing Zhong Hui, Hua Xing Hui, Guang Fu Hui and other revolutionary groups and established the Chinese League in Tokyo, Japan. At the founding convention, the political platform of "expelling the Tartars, restoring China, founding the Republic of China, and equalizing land rights" was established, and Sun Yat-sen was elected as the premier of the League. The congress decided to establish the Min Bao (People's Daily) as the organ of the League. The Chinese League was the first bourgeois revolutionary party of national scale and unity. Its establishment gave the national bourgeois revolutionary faction a unified leadership and a clear goal to strive for, which greatly promoted the development of the national revolutionary movement.

In his address to the People's Daily, Sun Yat-sen elaborated the political program of the League into the three major doctrines of "nationalism," "people's rights," and "people's livelihood," collectively known as the "Three People's Principles. Three People's Principles". The Three People's Principles became the guiding ideology of Sun Yat-sen's bourgeois revolution.（638words）